First day with a sub!

Okay, so I have two things on my mind for this post: I called in sick today; therefore, my students are having their first experience with a sub in my class. Also, I wanted to reflect a little bit about the cohesive genre unit I have going on right now.

In regard to the first idea that's on my mind, I was feeling really crappy this morning. I actually fainted in the shower (and managed to give myself a slightly bruised cheek!). After getting out of the shower and drinking some orange juice (I thought maybe it was just that my blood sugar was low), I realized that there was no way I was going to take the risk of going to work and fainting in front of my student (talk about scaring them!). So, I called the sub line and left a message with the secretary at school. I have to admit, I'm feeling rather guilty because I am going to be gone for a total of 6 days (10/21-10/28) for my wedding! So, in my guilt-enduced "frenzy," I sent out an email to all the teachers in my pod asking them to please let me know how my kids were responding to the sub. I received an encouraging email from a co-worker stating that my Block 3 class looked pretty good when she walked through. We'll see if that is an accurate representation of how the sub felt in my classroom.

Next, I want to spend a few minutes reflecting on a genre unit that I sort of "whipped" together on accident. So, since I have been completely overwhelmed with the planning of the wedding, parent-teacher conferences, open-house, observations, and overall lesson planning, I have been finding that a lot of the lessons I bring to school are not filling the entire block. So, in addition to feeling inadequate in regard to time management, I have begun to develop a keen sense of improvising. (See how I found the positive side of this blunder?) In one of my hurried attempts to fill up a chunk of the block (usually around 10-20 minutes!), I found myself having my students do a free write. Well, as they silently wrote for the remainder of the class, I frantically searched through my brain for an explanation or rationale for making them do this. What rationale did I come to? Well, I brought in a poem that I had written about a year and a half ago. I also brought in write-ups that I had done about dreams that my parents had had for me while I was growing up, a hard decision I had made in my life, an anecdote about a Polka dancing contest I had won, and symbols that represent who I am. This follow-up lesson plan introduced my students to some new vocabulary (symbol and anecdote), and it allowed for me to make a connection between free-writing, creativity, and poetry. Also, the write-ups about dreams, anecdotes, decisions, and symbols allowed me to have a discussion with my students about the role that personal experience plays in expressive writing (such as poetry and free-writing). So, after that lesson, I decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to introduce my students to the idea of genre, and how writing genres can really become intertwined and cohesive if we think about them in a sort of cause and effect way. In addition to exposing them to a new vocabulary words with this idea (genre, description, narrative, creative, technical, persuasive, and expository), we had a valuable discussion about categories, and how categorizing information allows for us to more easily process information (example: author purpose and audience). Shortly after this discussion about genre, we "connected the dots" for the previous lessons we had had during group work. I had them fill in a cause/effect organizer with their thoughts about how all of our discussions and activities over the past few days were related. The results were incredibly encouraging!! A few examples:

"The free-write showed us how to let loose with our writing--->After we let loose, we looked at examples of writers who had let loose with poetry (Kanye West and Ms.K)--->Then, we looked at different ways to be expressive with our writing by looking at symbols, dreams, and quick stories about personal things--->Then we learned about how free-writing can lead to creative writing which is a genre of literature.--->Now we think Ms. K is going to have us use our free-write to write in a new genre of writing, like maybe descriptive or something."

"When we was free-writing, we didn't know why we was doing that--->Then, when we looked at "Jesus Walks" (by Kanye West), we thought that maybe we did it because we are going to write a poem--->Then, Ms. K brought in some stuff she had wrote about herself, and how she became who she is today--->After that, we thought that we would probably be writing another free-write about the personal side of who we are--->Then we learned about different writing genres, and we sort of thought about the fact that all of the stuff we are reading and talking about is really creative writing, or kind of like a narrative--->So now we think we is going to write a personal narrative, but it can be creative too because creative writing and narrative writing can be a lot alike if you think about it."

Well, after we had sharing time with these cause/effect handouts, I lead them into a discussion about how creative writing and narrative writing can be related. We also talked about one type of narrative writing: personal narrative. We are currently working on "Life Maps." Each student has had their picture taken (courtesy of my digital camera). These are not just your typical "mug" shots, I encouraged each student to think of a pose, facial expression, or any other aesthetic that would accurately represent WHO they are. So, I have a lot of silly faces, interesting angles (one boy wanted me to stand on a table and look down at him so he could look up... he wanted to show that he feels like he has so much potential!). In addition to the self-portrait, they are creating actual timelines of their lives. These timelines will be fully illustrated (perfect for open-house), and will include little write-ups about at least 6 substantial events in their lives. So, what's coming next in this cohesive genre unit?

A descriptive peice about one event on their life maps (which will be an excellent time for me to do grammar in context about colorful adjectives, descriptive verb usage (example: Lisa DRIBBLED water down her shirt. Instead of Lisa got water on her shirt), and using a variety of sentence lengths in writing). And then?

A research inquiry about memory and why certain memories stand out more than others. And then?

An expository paper about the processes of researching and inquiry. Then?

A persuasive paper about the "best" genre of writing they have worked with thus far. Then?

A technical (business letter) piece written to a literary journal explaining why a (self-selected) piece of their writing should be published in that journal. And finally?

A creative piece (poem or short story) that incorporates their experiences with this genre unit.

Of course there are things that need to be ironed out, and of course some of the connections seem a little stretched, but I feel like I could have benefited from a cohesive genre unit like this when I was in high school. I think it's so important for these kids to understand that there are distinctions between all the different genres, but good writers should also be able to find a strong voice and let that voice be heard in all the genres. What better way to see that than to stick with a common thread and travel through all 6 genres?

Two days in a row? What?!

Okay, so today I'm all sorts of proud. Several of my students are being recognized school-wide for performing at an advanced level on the benchmark, one of my tenth graders recieved a scholarship for a football camp (it's next summer), and this camp is nationally acredited for the success it has in regard to gearing students up for college football, and another of my students did something admireable for me. I was called down to the office during block 4 today (I don't teach during this block). When I walked into Ms. Marsh's office, I saw one of my tenth grade boys sitting in the room as well. Since I hadn't been alerted to the fact that he would be sitting in on this meeting, I had a whirl of possibilities running through my head. Ms. Marsh greeted me by saying that she had called me into her office because she wanted this young man to tell me why he was in her office. As she finished saying this, my student looked at me and urgently started telling me about an incident he was involved in during block 3. While he was using the restroom he overheard some other young men saying inappropriate things about me, and these guys were also bragging about the fact that they had taken some of my candy, and they were making plans to snatch my unicorn puppet (long story). Being appalled by both the disguisting things that these guys were saying, and their hurtful plans to take things from me, my student clearly told these boys to stop. After what turned out to be a bit of a scuffle (nothing too major, my student ended up walking out before anything stupid happened), my student went to administration to let them know what had happened. After this young man left Ms. Marsh's office, she informed me that when he had come to her office, he was VERY upset. She said that he was having a hard time even telling her what happened because he was so irritated about how those boys in the bathroom had acted. Right there in her office, I started to cry. I was so touched.

In addition, I am currently in love with my classroom. I work so hard to keep that room looking the way that it does, and the hardwork is really worth it. :) Here are some pictures:

Pressure, pressure everywhere!

Okay, so I'm aware of the fact that my last post was rather urgent, and to make matters seem even more dire, I failed to post another entry in a timely fashion... whoops, that was my bad.  Well, in any case, I somehow manage to get myself feeling guilty about not blogging, so here I am... blogging. :)

My life is crazy hectic right now (to say the least).  I'm getting married in 16 days, I recently had parent/teacher conferences, I am being observed about 4 times over the next two weeks of school, our open house is on October 16th (from 6-8 pm) and the general public is coming, and I am trying to find a new car (mine is about ready to die).  Between gathering RSVP cards for the wedding, trying to get in dress fittings, grading papers, creating engaging lessons, test-driving cars, and desperately trying to display student work for the open house, I have very little time to sleep, clean, or reflect.  Now that I am done making a laundry list of excuses for myself, I am going to just say that I love reflecting, and here I have made myself time to do it (when I should be planning for tomorrow, or doing the LOADS of laundry that currently resides on my bedroom floor).

Today I had a crazy day with the kids.  My attendance was low (about 33% of all of my students were absent), and the kids who were there seemed particularly testy, edgy, and just generally sassy.  In addition to the discombobulation of my student population, I am feeling uneasy about lesson planning.  My ninth graders are being such troopers with the Pebble Creek curriculum, and I actually like what I am having them do currently (we're writing self-created news stories about major natural disasters).  So, the issue I'm having is not with them--I'm feeling uneasy about my tenth grade curriculum.  About a week and a half ago, I decided to have my tenth graders take a brief practice test to get a feel for where they stand when it comes to the skills that the WKCE tests for.  After looking through these practice tests, I was literally knocked on my a$$.  Not a single one of my tenth graders scored better than a 67% on these practice tests.  At first I was thinking, "well, they didn't take it seriously, they didn't have enough time, or this practice test is not a clear indication of how they will actually perform."  With these more positive thoughts in mind, I formulated lesson plans that focused on the writing process, author claims and support, purpose and audience, and we had plenty opportunities to learn about grammar in context.  The issue I am facing now is this: these kids are SEVERELY lacking in the vocabulary needed to perform proficiently on these tests.  Agh, I hate to admit this, but I have sadly come to the conclusion that my students simply lack the lexicon that the WKCE expects these tenth graders to have.  So, with less than a month before my students have to take this cruel test, I'm feeling a lot of pressure to make sure that I have done my best to prepare them for this assessment.  Now, how do I teach two blocks of tenth graders what discuss, explain, extrapolate, emphasize, explore,..... means (without resorting to the awful teaching methods I have previously seen in terms of vocab instruction)?

So, as I'm venting about this vocab frustration, I'm feeling other frustrations storming in.  They won't stop, so here they are:
- I have terribly limited access to technology--I have a computer for my own personal use in my classroom.  This computer is not networked to a printer in the building, so I have to put everything on a flash drive and use another computer to print.  In addition, I have no projector, and no smart board (this means no power points or demonstrations.
- My overhead projector died.  There are no other overhead projectors available in the building.
- The only open computer lab that my students have access to (as a whole class) is in the CLC, and during both my block two and three classes, this computer lab is used by the computer programming class.
- My school is so broke that they can't even help me pay for supplies (like markers, construction paper, scissors, tape, staplers, index cards, ANYTHING).
- We also can't go on field trips because we literally have NO money.
- In addition to experiencing major budget cuts, we lost 6 teachers, and because of that, I have about 4 new students in each of my classes (this happened on Monday).  How the hell do I catch up these kids??

To leave on a positive note:
- I still love my kids.
- I care about them so much.
- Sometimes I have to stop the lesson so that I can re-gather them (aka Ms. K goes into lecture mode and desperately explains to them why I need them to be a bit more serious..).  When I do have to stop, and when I make these little "speeches," they actually listen.  This isn't like silently staring at me and waiting for me to stop, this is like looking at kids who are actually concerned and who are honestly hearing what I have to say.  Today, I was feeling particularly frustrated with the fact that some of my students refuse to show self-discipline by staying on task during workshops.  I said something like, "I care so much about you guys, and it KILLS me to know that you know what it is you have to do to do well in here, and you blatantly choose NOT to do it.  I can't go home at night and feel good about myself as a teacher when I know that a lot of my students are not living up to their potential."  I could tell they were serious, and one of my students (who hears his name a lot in my class because he's always a little on the sassy side) said, "Ms. K, you know we love you and we love this class, right?"  I didn't know how to respond.  I know that they love me, but I don't necessarily know that they love the class.  So, I said, "Well, I know that you all care about me, but I would love for you all to SHOW me that you care about me as a teacher by doing what you need to do in my class."  I won't lie and say that the rest of the class was sassy-free, but I will say that I left my school today knowing that 75 young-adults care about me.  I used to ask myself why it was so important for me to feel like my students care about me, and now I think I finally know why I have always wanted this so bad: because now that I actually feel like these kids care about me, it is PROOF for me that they know that I care about them.  I could have never imagined (in a million years) that my first month of teaching would be this amazing.

I have so much more to say, but I need to do some planning, and then I need to do some sleeping. :)

Ahhhhhh

Okay... where to start...

You know what? Eff it. I am not going to start anywhere, I'm just going to talk.

I had a bad day.

It wasn't the kids.

It wasn't the other teachers.

It was me.

I haven't been getting enough sleep.

I think I'm even a touch under the weather.

I have so much on my mind: wedding, parent/teacher conferences/the state of our school....

We're short 4 safety aids and 2 assistant principals.

We've had five massive fights over the past two days.

We were in a code yellow all day yesterday, and again today.

I'm feeling sad for my students because they may lose their pep rally and homecoming.

I read a children's book to them today called, "I Wuv You" because they need positivity.

I also read it because I was feeling so negative myself, and I needed a pick-me-up.

My kids are starting to "test" me.

I don't blame them-the school is complete havoc right now.

I'm feeling worn down.

I can't wait until the wedding is over (because I just want to relax).

I hate PebbleCreek.

I'm feeling overwhelmed at the fact that most of my ninth graders' skill level is minimal.

I wish tenth graders loved to write.

I wish tenth graders were slightly better at self-directive work-time--

then we could effectively have a writing workshop...not like it was today.

I won a doughnut for being the only teacher in the building who hasn't written a referral yet.

I also am the only teacher who hasn't sent out a student or called security.

I think my students should win doughnuts for this; not me.

I love them so much.

I could have cried today because I felt like they were mad at me.

I was being a big ole' meanie because I was cranky.

I said sorry.

They liked the book.

Old Issue. New Perspective.

So, as the title of this blog alludes to, I had the opportunity (don't you love my optimism?) to revisit an age-old issue in my profession: poorly planned lessons. Now, all of my fellow teachers know that a poorly planned lesson could mean a number of things--it could be inaccurate time management, wrongful assumptions of class participation, lack of solid learning objectives, unorganized materials, poorly executed activities, unclear explanations, unrealistic expectations, lack of readiness, and on and on and on... Well, regardless of the exact culprit of the poorly planned lesson, the responses and reactions of the students are usually pretty similar: off-task behaviors. And, even as a teacher with high expectations of her students, I totally understand why these sorts of lesson plan "blunders" generate off-task behaviors. Who wants to sit quietly and patiently when they are confused, frustrated, irritated, and misguided? Ohhhhh, probably no one. :/

So, yesterday (the day after Labor Day), I went into school with my first "actual" lesson. All of the first week of school I tried my damnedest to make sure my students became familiar and comfortable with all of my procedures, expectations, quirks, and structures. I must say, they all did a marvelous job of patiently taking in and practicing the many, many processes and ideas that I presented to them. When I left school on Friday, I left with excitement for the long weekend, and excitement about getting started with my English curriculum. So, let me preface my lesson planning process by offering some brief background context about my classes.

1. I teach two sections of tenth grade English and one section of ninth grade English (we have block scheduling).

2. Most of my tenth graders were ninth graders last year, and since most of them also attended Tech last year, they had the Pebble Creek curriculum in English as ninth graders.

3. Pebble Creek does not include units for The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, or any other classical texts for that matter. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a die-hard advocate for texts like The Odyssey or Romeo and Juliet, but I do see the importance of making rich, classical texts relevant for today's teens.

4. As I mentioned in #3, the ninth graders at Tech have to go through the Pebble Creek curriculum, so for my ninth grade block, that is what I have to work with.

So, with that little snippet of information off my chest, I would like to get back at my intentions about lesson planning for the weekend. Since I had such a positive experience with The Odyssey at Riverside, I decided that I would use the whole "Epic Hero" concept to crank out some of the WKCE skills that we are required to enforce for our ninth graders (at Tech). I was feeling rather good about my ability to quickly "whip something up" for an introduction to Greek Mythology and The Odyssey. In addition to my confidence in the ease of my tenth grade planning, I wasn't really stressing at all about the ninth grade planning. (I believe I kept telling myself, "Well, even if you do end up winging it, there's a binder pretty much telling you what to say to the kids.") Please don't judge me, or cast me off as "one of those lazy teachers." I will simply defend myself by saying (in a slightly defensive tone): "But it was Labor Day weekend... and I just wanted to take it easy... You see where this is going.

Well, I showed up to school yesterday with more planned than I had originally anticipated. I had handouts with vocabulary words for my ninth graders, and I had questions and poster instructions about the twelve Greek gods and goddesses for my tenth graders. I have to admit, I was feeling pretty good about my readiness for the day. Well, those feelings changed about halfway through Block One (my ninth grade block). "What do we do when we are done with the words, Ms. K?" and "How are we supposed to define these words without a dictionary, Ms. K?" "Ms. K, I don't have a notebook yet!" So, I did what any English teacher would do in my situation: I improvised. I had extra paper for those who needed it, I showed my students how to use a thesaurus in place of a dictionary (we don't have a dictionary... don't ask!), and I encouraged my quick workers to pair up and compare definitions. Then, with about twenty minutes left in class, I had them go into Silent Reading. They had caught onto my discombobulation about ten minutes before Silent Reading, and so they flew with it--and I don't blame them! Those kids acted super sassy during "silent" reading! By the time they left, I could feel my hair knotting up, and I could feel the armpits of my shirt getting damp. "Okay, Megan, GET IT TOGETHER." In walks Block Two (tenth graders). I distributed the necessary handouts, kept their attention during the minilesson, and set them free to work. "Ms. K, we don't have that part of the handout." "Ms. K, why is their group doing the same one as us?" "How are we supposed to make a poster if the glue is all gone?" Aghhhhh! Stupid printer! Stupid me for not double checking to see who was working on what! Stupid glue stick! Then, wouldn't you know, I FORGOT THAT THERE WAS A FIRE DRILL. In the midst of total chaos, I had kids running out of my classroom (keep in mind I did NOT review proper Fire Drill procedures because I had forgotten about the freakin drill..), and my room was a total disaster. Needless to say, Block Three walked into a classroom that was left awry, and had to sit before a teacher who was feeling OVERWHELMED. So, I humbly told my students about my mental state, and I asked for their forgiveness and their patience. They tried their best. Haha.

That night, I went home with a HUGE to-do list, and self-promises to work my ass off until I felt OVER prepared. The result: I was up too late last night, but I had seamless lesson plans for today, and I had a super fun, excellently fantabulous day! :)

Que random thoughts time:

1. I am totally jealous of my CLC leader's classroom! If I could make my classroom into a carbon copy of her's, I would. The only problem: I don't have the money to put cute little table cloths on the student tables, perch worldly artifacts on the super high ledge above the dry-erase board, and buy a smart board.

2. I am feeling really crappy about the copy situation at my school. At Riverside, we could go into the copy room and make our own copies AT OUR LEISURE. At Tech, there is a copy guy (named Doug) who is a "sweet" little old man with a serious attitude problem (ha-ha). He runs a strict "hands off the copiers" rule for teachers, he leaves at 3 pm (about 30 minutes into my planning period), and he needs to have copy requests at least one day in advance. Well, all of these things pose some problems for me. First of all, I'm a control freak, I like to do things myself, and I like to do them when I want to do them. Secondly, I teach for three straight blocks, so 30 minutes into my planning period I'm lucky if I have my freakin attendance into eSiS. Finally, I'M A FIRST YEAR FREAKIN TEACHER, DUDE. I don't have master copies for lessons four days in advance! I just don't.

3. I absolutely adore my classes. There is such an amazing dynamic in each class, and it makes for some interesting interactions. It's very entertaining to see how all of these kids' personalities mesh within the classroom.

4. I have some major issues with girl-crazy boys. I'm starting to consider having the nurse come in and have a little talk about the birds and the bees...

5. I wouldn't mind it one bit if my class roster stopped fluctuating HOURLY. :)

T.G.I.F.

So, it's the end of the week, and I made it! I would like to say though, that I not only made it, I loved it. I seriously can't believe how wonderful I feel right now. Could it be possible that I taught for four days at a "terrible" school, and didn't write a single kid up (or send any out for that matter)?

Today I had my first experience with my collaborative planning time with the construction academy teachers (the teachers in my CLC), and we did this kumbia activity involving a circle, some beanie babies, and expression of feelings. After I wrote that sentence, I realized that I sounded particularly sarcastic, but I would like to explain that I simply have no other way to describe the activity that we do. And heck, I like a little fun-lovin' hippiness anyway. :) But, in any case, we went around and explained personal values, influential people in our lives, and times when we have felt respected or disrespected. During this activity, I realized that the feelings I am feeling right now are not shared by my colleagues. Most of the teachers in the circle expressed feelings of disrespect in regard to student behavior this week, and a lot of them explained that they felt their students didn't truly understand what a value was, or how to respect themselves. Now, don't get me wrong, I agree that a lot of youngsters today don't have their values set in stone, nor do they need to at the age of 15, but I seriously feel that some of these teachers are creating problems for themselves by assuming that their students don't have values, and that they need to teach values. While I look back at the days I have spent with my students so far, I firmly believe that they all have values, needs, opinions, and the ability to respect others and themselves. These four days, I have seen nothing but normal adolescent behavior accompanied by a refreshing sense of playfulness, awareness, and amazing ability to accept new things (and in particular, a new teacher!). I've heard incredibly offensive language, and I've witnessed (first-hand!) the sight of a truly remorseful and apologetic face when this language is addressed in a reasonable manner. I've seen sneaky attempts to break "bogus" classroom rules, and I've seen adorable scrambles to appear angelic when detection is sensed.

I would like to end this blog with my usual unorganized "list" of random thoughts. (I create these lists because, if I can't create logical paragraphs and format, I feel reassured by the comforting organization of numbered lists...).

1. I don't think I could love my students any more than I do.
2. I really feel like my students care about me, and that is HONESTLY something I didn't feel at Riverside.
3. These four days have been the most fun I have had in all of my life.
4. Not for one second do I think my job is going to be this "easy" all the time.
5. It's pay day!
6. My classroom is bomb-ass looking.
7. My kids like to read! (One of them self-selected the graphic version of Romeo and Juliet, and another picked (and actually read like 6 pages of) Crime and Punishment! (And, he's a 9th grader!!!!!!!!!)
8. I would like to personally thank God for creating the human being who invented Jolly Ranchers. (I have been told, "you are my favorite teacher!" by four different students, and although they claimed it wasn't because of the Jolly Ranchers, I have a small inclining that it is...)
9. I have had the privilege of bartering with students ("okay, you can listen to your mp3 player during independent reading, if you don't ask me for a hall pass any more), and making pinkie swears ("I know you're just 'goofin,' but enough with flashing the gang symbols. Pinkie swear it'll stop?" "Yes, Ms. K."). :)
10. Did I mention I love my job?

Drum-roll..... THE FIRST DAY

Well folks, today was the first day. The first day of school, the first day of my career, and the first day of my life (well, at least the life that I have built for myself!). This sort of day is definitely deserving of some serious reflection. With that in mind, I write this entry with a cautious undertone.

I'm not sure how other schools work on the first day, but at Tech the kids are herded into the commons at 8:35 where they then receive their schedules. After these youngsters get a hold of their color-coded schedules, the returning students are instructed to swiftly get to Block 1. The new students are lead to the first destination of their day-long orientations. As it turns out, my Block 1 class is a ninth grade class. So, logically, I had a nearly empty classroom for this block. I had one student in my ninth grade class (he failed his second semester of English 9 last year; thus, he is a returning student), so we played Scrabble. To my surprise, this young man was energetic, hopeful, and excited that he has me for two blocks in one day (that means he is with me for three hours of the day!). This one-on-one time was incredibly helpful to me. It really eased my nerves about the entire day. I don't know if he knows that he had that kind of impact on my mental well-being, but I was truly grateful for his individual company. My tenth grade classes (blocks 2 and 3) were also lacking in the attendance area (Tech doesn't take attendance on the first day because of the new student orientation, so word gets out), and all of the students who I met today were pleasant. I even had a few girls write comments for the comment box that stated, "you are going to be my favorite teacher!" Awww, isn't that sweet--don't worry, I know they are playing the game. :)

Looking back at the day, I have NOTHING to complain about. There wasn't a single moment in the day when I felt overwhelmed or out of control. I felt AMAZING. I felt so good about the day, that I am almost more nervous about tomorrow than I was about today. Being a lightly seasoned teacher, I have had the opportunity to learn a few things about teaching, and one of the first things I learned is that you should never get overly excited (or disappointed) about a day at school--things can (and probably will) be COMPLETELY different the next day. So, with that thought in mind, I am going to approach tomorrow with the same "green" attitude that I had today. I'm sure tomorrow will bring its own set of interesting circumstances.

Some random thoughts from today that I want to remember:

1. We only had two suspensions today (an altercation between two young men in the morning). I am pretty proud of the kids for this considering how chaotic the scheduling process was. We had about 1200 kids in the commons area getting papers thrown at them, and also having their bags searched.

2. A certain student that I had at Riverside (who also happens to be "that kid" that I will NEVER forget from my student teaching) now goes to Tech, and I saw him in the hallway. I'm sure I've spoken about this student in every blog I wrote while at Riverside, and I'm sure I made a "code" name for him, but the name has slipped me. Just trust me when I say that his presence at Tech feels like a guardian angel. He is definitely a substantial young man, and he was one of the biggest pains in my butt at Riverside, but I can't even describe to you how good it felt to see him today. :)

3. A young lady in my block 2 class introduced herself and by stating that her interesting fact about her is that she has anger problems. The class (as well as I) was caught off guard by this uninvited honesty, but I thanked her for her forwardness. She is going to be a tough cookie, and I am going to need to pay special attention to her. Unfortunately, I can tell by her demeanor that she is carrying a heavy load around with her. She seems to have a permanent gray cloud over her head, and a facial expression that reads, "Don't ask, just trust me; I have a reason to hate the world." In addition to her up-front confession about anger, this young lady informed me (via her comment card) that she DESPISES group-work. I have to make some sort of accommodation for this issue because she was willing to communicate this with me. I'm thinking that I will ask to speak with her individually, and ask for her compliance with a valiant attempt to participate in group work. I will try to work out some sort of discreet signal that she can flash at me if she is about to lash out at one of her group members, and then I can give her work to complete individually (but I would like her to stay in the group proximity). Hopefully this will help her feel more comfortable with my sensitivity to her needs, and my ultimate hope is that she will gradually begin to feel confident about being in a group setting.

4. I got an IEP in my mailbox today. Seems like I'm going to have an interesting situation in my ninth grade class... Don't worry, I was given crisis process for when this student engages in violent and defiant behaviors. Ugh. I am doing my best to keep an open mind about this young man's situation, but I already know that I have a HUGE weakness with Sp.Ed. kids who have behavior issues. Maybe this is fate's way of forcing me to confront this issue and take the steps necessary to address this personal deficit...

For now, I'm going to keep on keeping on. :)